Friday, August 29, 2008

Mats Sundin, via his agent, is starting to float the idea that he may follow the Niedermayer plan after all.

From today's Star:

Sundin's agent, J.P. Barry, said that no decision on his client's future is imminent and the long-time Leafs captain might even pull a Scott Niedermayer and wait until the season is underway before announcing his plans. Last season, Niedermayer rejoined the Ducks in December.

"It's possible," Barry told the Vancouver Sun. "It's not something that's preferable to him. Mats has said in the past it's not something he is totally comfortable with, but at the same time you can't say that until you're in that position yourself."

Apparently you may not need to be there from October to June after all.

I think it damages Sundin's credibility just to have the idea floated by his agent. Either Barry is saying things that aren't coming from Sundin, or Sundin is changing his stance. If it is the latter, especially if Sundin does end up playing a partial season, he's going to be in for a rough ride from fans. If the idea is Barry's, Sundin is probably not very happy with him right now, I sure wouldn't be.

I think it damages Sundin's credibility just to have the idea floated by his agent.

That's exactly it. It doesn't really matter whether Mats ultimately takes this route or not. If he's decided that his October/June rule doesn't apply after all, then the trade deadline becomes even more of a debacle.

That said, it's also possible that Barry was just asked a question he wasn't prepared for and tried to give a "leave the doors open" non-answer. This may not actually be coming from Mats. At least I hope not.

Screw Mat(t)(s) like wtf? Dude says that he doesn't believe in the trade deadline, he believe you should be with the team from training camp on, now he might wait to join a team in december? I hope the Toronto Media eats him for this. Set the Leafs behind by at least a year or two by his stubborn ways. Good ridance...

"I never believed in rental players to start with," Sundin told reporters. "I think if you want to be part of the team that has a chance to win the Stanley Cup or a team that is going far in the playoffs, my opinion has always been that you want to be there from training camp or the start of the season to be part of the group."

Sundin can rejoin the Leafs mid-season as long as there's no "chance to win the Stanley Cup" or any talk of "going far in the playoffs".